Client and Project
I chose Tourism Cook Islands for this assignment and set out to give their current site a simpler look and easier user interface. The client is the main source of information for holiday makers wanting to get more information on the (Cook) islands and things to do while they’re there. They also display current specials on flights to Rarotonga (the main island).
The new site – along with the aforementioned goals and benefits – will continue to promote the Cook Islands and be a source of reliable information.

Usability
Users visit the site for the sole purpose of virtually exploring the Cook Islands and from there goes through the appropriate avenues to find and book things to do while on vacation in paradise. Therefore I’ve taken away a lot of the pages used in the original website and condensed it down to make it easier to find information or the links to a site better suited for what the user wants. For example, for reviews on private businesses the Tourism page will redirect the user to TripAdvisor which is the best site for the request. To make user experience easier there is a widget for the two international airlines that fly into the main island (Rarotonga) on the home page that is fully functional and directs them to a page with the results for flights.

Treatment
how will you brand and theme the site and what is your intended communication for this?

The site will be centred, responsive and use a lot of white space to really bring out images.

Goal
The current site has many links that don’t really do anything and some that double up. It also is a bit sore on the eyes so my goal is to simplify the site and make it as easy to use with appropriate links as possible. The design needs to be simple but also pretty in terms of having lots of bright, colourful images throughout all the pages. The site also needs to be responsive.

Audience
The target audience for this site is anyone wanting to travel and because the Cook Islands is an attractive holiday venue to all ages (depending on time of year) the site isn’t aimed at any particular age group.

Approach
Move away from having a busy site, as they currently do, and use more white space to allow the images to pop. The colourful images on the white background will help emphasis the beauty and fun to be had in the beautiful Cook Islands.

Content
The existing site has lots of good content but it’s a hassle to find it as you have to go through quite a few pages. So taking the current content and condensing it down to fit on my Home, Discover With Us, Stay with Us, Play with Us, Plan with Us, Share with Us and Contact Us pages.

So while I’ve been coding my site I’ve realized that accessing the main site from different countries (its optional) gives you different style home pages! Cool but potentially confusing so I’m looking at including bits of the other sites leavings the others attached but as options so it doesn’t matter where in the world you access it from everyone gets the same page and can choose to view the page most relevant to them.

So I’ve spent the last couple of days playing around with Bootstap since I wasnt in class and its so cool! Maybe my last of sleep is to blame for my newfound fondness for bootstrap but either way its got some cool features.

Here’s a quick snapshot of what i’ve done so far. Everything works (ys the search bar too). I started working from the top down and now im sorting out linking my footer before I do the content in the middle. The original site has so many links and tid bits on the bottom of the page so I’m going to spend some time sorting out what I can use, whats stupid and really shouldn’t be there and get the social media stuff sorted and then chucking the content in after.

NO the background image, font type/size and color are not being used at this point on my site. Getting the bones and everything working before I change the smaller details.

The current site has this It looks weird to me so I’d prefer to have it more like this but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it but I’ll definitely give it a go. Air NZ and Tourism CI have a close relationship so I have to keep that in mind seeing as they want to see the end result of this assignment.

The Tourism NZ site http://www.newzealand.com/int/ I’m not too much of a fan of. I liked the AIRNZ widget they have but the site itself, I can’t quite put my finger on it but I don’t like it very much.

I’m still making a couple of changes to my layout and I’m still seeing some really cool layouts which is annoying because I’m having to make more changes -_- the struggles bros, the struggles.

I missed out on class this week as I arrived back from the Cook Islands that morning and couldn’t stay awake long enough to make the class so alas I’m still trying to wrap my head around Bootstrap.

From the examples people have posted and the comments from Matt on my last assignment I’m excited about this one, or at least I will be once I get my head around bootstrap haha

I want to use the Cook Islands Tourism website, they have an office here but I think I need to talk to Matt and see if thats ok. If I can then CI Tourism actually want me to show them what I’ve done (I met with them while I was in the Cook Islands) and if they like it they’ll make my site live and give me a job in their digital media team. Exciting stuff! So yeah all in all I haven’t done much this week but next week I’m looking to get my Html and Css done and find a dumbies guide to bootstrap (please dear god let one exist!) lol and thats me folks :)

Project Manager for PTR Productions. Our client is Kerynn Walsh, a lecturer from AUT’ University contracting our company to create 2x videos of 2-3 minute lengths. (logo designed by Ryan Holton).

My tasks

I became the Project Manager on August 26th after a conversation between myself and the original Project Manager -Ryan Holten -led to an agreement of our skills being better suited for different roles. Since becoming theProject Manager I have taken over a majority of the paper work where as before it was more of a shared job between the team. This method of sharing the paperwork in the beginning worked well as it kept all members involved as opposed to the those who will be focusing on the editing in the coming weeks being sidelined up this point. However now we are beginning filming next week, I will be overseeing all paper work.

With the proposal, Ryan wrote a basic document when he was PM which myself and Tom added to. After the role switch and with pointers from Ross I added some colour to the document using a pixel colour swatch (pictured on left) and the Resonance Proposal Microsoft template (on right).

I have done the following:
– Organised and met with the client by myself on both ocassions (once as Video Production Manager and the second as Project Manager). The minutes for which I shared with the team via our Facebook page.
– Collaborated with Tom and Ryan on the original Proposal
– Started the design document that we will be able to refer to next week when we start filming
– Created skeleton document for the concluding letter
– Final Proposal I made the edits Ross recommended, edited a little of Toms contribution as well as the component section and production schedule and rewrote the treatment. I wrote the treatment and changed the font
– Added visuals to the written story boards from each member (one each).

Slightly altered the layout of our document before handing it over to the client for signing as seen below.

My role as Project Manager is to be the bridge between my team and our client ensuring that both are on the same page and that everything goes smoothly. I try to create a constructive and judgement free environment while in meetings with my team whilst also challenging them and encourage them to challenge me where appropriate. My management style is more so consultative as I recognise that both members in my team are extremely talented and out of respect I like to get their opinions and input.

As Project Manager I’m expected to have good time management thus leading to good organisation. I will admit this is not my strong suit therefore I am learning as I go but as I have an amazing team, they make it a lot easier. I’ve come to realise that as well as having to remind myself of deadlines and keep track I also remind them, this works both ways where if I drop the ball, they have reminded me. It’s a learning process. However at the moment our team is on track with our scheduled dates of filming, editing and completion.

Therefore our progress this quarter compared to last is better. We are able to do more now as last quarter we were still finding a bearings as a team. As I’ve said we are on track to complete the assignment on time. Our client is happy and so is my team so the upcoming weeks are looking good.

As agreed with out client our filming days are organised based on the availability of the Performance Students (1st and 3rd years) who we will be interviewing for the 2x videos of 2-3minutes length. Our first filming session is Wednesday 1st October during Kerynn’s Performance Communication class (1st Year).

At this point of the process I’ve learnt alot. In time management alone I’ve realised the responsibility taken on as the rest of the team needs me to be on my A game in order for them to be able to do their jobs and this goes both ways. I’ve acknowledged that I need to therefore sharpen up on my time management skills. I’ve realised my personality can also be a strength in my role as the mood I encourage during meetings can affect the discussion, mood of other members and whether the result of the meeting is what was wanted. Another lesson would be delegation as I was in the Cook Islands over the study break where the internet is slow (wifi is still fairly new) and unrealiable most of the time. I realised once I was there that I should have let the team know before hand and organised a meeting for them with the client to keep her in the loop.

All in all we’re on track, learnt a few lessons that hopefully we won’t be learning twice and have really gelled as a team. The next few weeks will see our teams productivity increase which will reflect in the end result.